The National Football League brings down the curtain on Sunday third week play tonight when the Denver Broncos host the Los Angeles Rams. Before the season began, these were two teams ranked high as potential prospects to meet in Super Bowl LXI on February 14th in Los Angeles.
Then they played the games and both the Broncos and Rams got crushed by division rivals during the opening weekend.
The San Francisco 49ers downed the Rams in the first of nine International Games the league will stage this year. The contest was played not only in a dramatic time-zone shift but on the other side of the International date line. The Australian matchup saw the underdog 49ers clobber Sean McVay’s squad, 27-7.
Two nights later, stateside, the Broncos visited their nemesis in the AFC West, and their hosts treated them badly by dominating the action during a 31-10 Kansas City Chiefs home triumph.
So much for two of the favorites … at least for the first week of 2026 regular season action.
Last week, both the Broncos and Rams got back on track. Denver downed the talented Jacksonville Jaguars in a competitive contest at Mile High Stadium, 20-13. The Rams won at SoFi by a decisive margin over the upstart New York Giants, 28-6. Tonight, one of these NFL powers will advance their record to 2-1, the other will enter fourth week play with a losing mark.
This is just how the NFL likes it.
By scheduling the best teams against each other and in tough spots they can tag them with a loss or two in September and thus create more competitive division races. The Rams are like a horse carrying the heaviest jockey in the race by being a prohibitive favorite to win it all. Since 1996, the Rams are the 27th team to open a season with 5 to 1 odds or shorter and none of the previous 26 have gone on to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Eight of the preseason favorites did get to the Super Bowl, but all eight lost the big game.
Oh for 26 has me more cool than most on the Rams for season long projections, but week-to-week it is tough to go against Matthew Stafford and company. Particularly when they have something to overcome. I think they got clobbered in Australia because their arrival date didn’t serve them nearly as well as the 49ers spending an entire week accumulating themselves to the dramatic time-zone change. The Rams also entered the game as a bet-on favorite with headlines about how dominant they are now going to be with the additions of a pair of intimating defensive linemen, Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.
Then Garrett got hurt, he missed last Monday night’s win and Donald came into the Giants game off a two-year layoff with questions about his ability to perform early in the season in serious question. It was reported that McVay brought him back into action sooner than anticipated because of the loss of Garrett.
Those questions took the Rams from overconfident to concerned about their chances against a Giants team that looked sharp in John Harbaugh’s coaching debut with New York and the much-improved play by second-year signal caller Jaxson Dart. The talent and motivation combined to generate the one-sided Los Angeles victory.
The Broncos were also challenged last week. Coming off their opening loss to Kansas City they had to go up against the only team to beat them in Denver last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars. While the Broncos were getting blown out in their opening game the Jaguars dominated the action while posting a 34-10 triumph over the Cleveland Browns.
The motivation was equal last week in Denver between these two NFL 2025 division winners, but the more dire need for the Broncos carried the day to overcome their first week loss.
So, where does that leave us on tonight’s game?
Equal motivation, both teams respect each other, both may meet again on Valentine’s Day, and neither offer a clear wagering side in this primetime beauty.